TN must join discom revamp scheme: Goyal

The Centre is hopeful of getting the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Company (Tangedco) on board a relief package to wipe off its accumulated losses and make the power utility viable.B Sivakumar | TNN | January 03, 2016, 11:27 IST

CHENNAI: The Centre is hopeful of getting the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Company (Tangedco) on board a relief package to wipe off its accumulated losses and make the power utility viable. At present there are 12 power distribution companies which have joined the Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana (Uday). But, Tangedco, one of the discom which has highest accumulated losses, refused to join the scheme due to stringent conditions which includes revision of tariff every quarter. In an election year, the state government will find it difficult to implement.

“We will make Tangedco join the Uday scheme just like other state discoms. We want all state discoms to join the scheme and come out of the red,” Union minister for power, coal and renewable energy Piyush Goyal told TOI on the sidelines of a function to inaugurate a bio-mass power plant at Mahindra World City on Saturday. Increasing tariff each quarter is optional which discoms can decide based on their regulator’s recommendation , said Goyal.

Uday has been launched to improve financial and operational efficiencies of discoms. It aims to reduce interest burden, cost of power and AT&C losses. The scheme provides for states to take over 75% debt of discoms in two years. “Uday has inbuilt incentives encouraging state governments to voluntarily restructure their debts. These incentives include taking over of discom debts by the states outside the fiscal deficit limits and incentives to reduce power cost ,” he said.

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The ongoing field development and EOR/IOR projects are expected to produce a cumulative of 54.6 million tonne (mt) of crude oil and 114 billion cubic meter (bcm) of natural gas in the next three to four years, the report said.